Zooming past everything in sight, with its flathead V-8 engine humming like the well-built, well-oiled machine that it was, the Ford Coupe – with its sparkling maroon paint-job, new white wall tires and aluminum radiator – attracted the attention of every passing motorist who gawked at its glittering chrome and tried eagerly to catch a glimpse of the all tan interior and the driver inside.
While such an experience seems far off at best for all car lovers, the donation of such a Ford Coupe by the Coffin family to the Jesuit Car Club, headed by President Mike Earsing and Principal Tom Garrison, makes such a fantasy that much closer to reality. Consequently, repairing the car and not driving off with it might become a little more challenging instead of auctioning it off to raise money for the school like they plan to do.
After Greg Coffin’s father passed away, Mr. Coffin ’80 generously donated the Ford Coupe from his father’s old car collection to Jesuit. One of the things that has made Mr. Coffin’s donation so special and dear to Jesuit is the “special connections,” as Mr. Garrison deems them, that exist between Coffin and Jesuit: “Not only is Mr. Coffin a graduate from Jesuit, but he has also had two boys go through here, one of whom is still enrolled, and his wife, Linda, has been the coach of the Rangerettes and doing a phenomenal job for quite some time.”
On top of those numerous connections, Mr. Earsing also recalled that Coffin was one of his chemistry students in 1978. He remembers the student Coffin as “always a good student” and remarked that even before the car there was “a lot of love and affection, both from the school and themselves.”
Contrary to what one might think, the Ford Coupe that the Car Club recently received is not the first of amazing contributions it has obtained from benevolent benefactors. Having the privilege of being able to work on cars like a BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Triumph (TR) 6, along with two TR 7s, the Jesuit Car Club has attracted many followers eager to work on such cars. “It is fascinating to watch as they grow in their interest of how a car works,” Earsing said. “Many have gone on to be very successful engineering majors in college.”
Despite the excitement surrounding the new Coupe, the new responsibilities that President Mike Earsing and Principal Tom Garrison have taken on has made working on the car somewhat hard to coordinate. As a new principal Mr. Garrison said he wishes he had “a lot more free time, because it really takes a while to sit back and figure out what you are going to do.”
Similarly, Mr. Earsing, who took over the new job of President this year, echoed this feeling of frustration, remarking that “because [repairing cars] is so fun to do it’s unfortunate I, and Mr. Garrison, who took on a new job this year as well, don’t have as much time. We are trying to come up with a new paradigm of how to do the Car Club.”
Unfortunately, the increased responsibilities of both Mr. Garrison and Mr. Earsing has made them postpone work on the club until the Spring, when Mr. Garrison hopes he can “help revive the club.” It’s still not too late to join in on the fun for everyone who has an interest in fixing up some antique and frankly awesome cars.
Even those not immediately interested in fixing up old cars might want to take a look at a recent photo below of the stunning car, despite its malfunctions. While technically the car is designated for the school auction to raise scholarship money, it’s hard to imagine both Mr. Garrison and Mr. Earsing denying students who help fix the car up a chance at taking the gorgeous machine for a quick whirl – with a legal drivers license, of course.
